Celebrating 25 years of studying ancient Celtic languages in Aberystwyth

Parry Williams Building

A conference celebrating over 25 years of studying ancient Celtic languages at Aberystwyth University will take place later this month.

While today Celtic languages are restricted to only a few parts of western Europe, in the centuries before the birth of Christ they were spoken widely over much of Europe and even into Asia Minor.

Tracing the exact extent of these ancient languages has proved difficult as the direct evidence is sparse, much of it consisting of place-names recorded in classical sources.

In 1999 the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies held an international conference on Celtic place-names in Ptolemy’s ‘Geography’ from around the year 150 CE.

That event prompted a series of research projects led by Professor Patrick Sims-Williams and conferences in European universities which transformed our understanding of the reach of Celtic speech in the ancient world.

Held on Saturday 25 October, the international conference will celebrate the legacy of these important research projects, and the present day study of ancient Celtic in Aberystwyth.

Dr Simon Rodway and Dr Alexander Falileyev will share research findings about ancient Celtic evidence from Britain and Ireland with colleagues from Spain, Germany and beyond.

Dr Falileyev from the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies said:

“We are all grateful and indebted to Patrick Sims-Williams for starting this in Aberystwyth 25 years ago. Now we have a more precise and accurate kit of tools to determine and measure linguistic Celticity, and this has resulted in scores of volumes being published across Europe in the past quarter century.

“New data and new interpretations necessitate further discussions, and we are extremely happy to meet these needs by arranging this international conference – the first in a decade to be solely dedicated to this subject. Quite a few papers from colleagues who – one way or another – were involved in the network established by Sims-Williams will be discussed as well as various aspects of linguistic Celticity of Britain, Ireland and the Continent in antiquity.

“We also hope that the conference will greatly enrich our students’ understanding of the wealth of ancient Celtic material which the Department in Aberystwyth studies alongside medieval and modern Celtic languages and literatures.”

Dr Rhianedd Jewell, Head of the Department, said:

“We as a Department are very proud of the breadth of our Celtic Studies provision and the valuable connections that we share with colleagues in the field across the world. Students at Aberystwyth can study a wider range of ancient and modern Celtic languages here than at any other institution in the UK. This conference will be a timely celebration of the importance of the ancient Celtic languages to our Department, particularly as we are also marking our 150th anniversary this year.”

The conference will be held in Tŷ Trafod on the University’s Penglais Campus. Attendance is free of charge and there is no need to book in advance.

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